A school bus driver has sued her employer, First Student Inc., for $1 million, saying the company retaliated against her for telling school officials about a suspected case of child abuse.

According to the lawsuit, Colleen M. Anderson, a bus driver for 25 years, said the child in question told her about an alleged case of abuse. Anderson, in turn, reported the matter to Terrance J. Brooks, assistant principal of the Burkland Elementary School, in March 2009.

The child is related to a supervisor. In the lawsuit, Anderson said she was removed from the company’s list of employees eligible for overtime pay, among other retaliatory measures, after she reported the alleged abuse.

“I would love to comment, but I am afraid of further retaliation. I love my job,” she said.

The company is asking the court to dismiss Anderson’s suit on the grounds that she was not required by law to report suspected abuse to authorities and therefore does not qualify for the protection granted to those who are.

Mandated reporting laws require people who work with children to tell authorities whenever they see or hear something that would give them reasonable cause to believe a child is being abused.

Anderson’s attorney, Adam M. Bond of Middleboro, also declined to comment as the case is in litigation.

In Anderson’s statement to the court, Bond wrote, “Indeed, it is stunning that a national school bus company would actually assert such a counter-intuitive argument that boils down to an absolute elimination of a child-safety obligation that they should embrace, rather than attack.”

Bond asserts in his argument that any retaliation against Anderson would violate her right to protection under mandatory-reporting laws.

School Superintendent Michael Malone did not speak specifically to Anderson’s case, but said state law is vague in designating bus drivers as mandatory reporters.

“I would assume they would be mandated reporters. If not, they are required to report under our procedures,” Malone said. “The law says anyone who works for the school, or a person paid to care and work with children in a public or private facility.”

Bond’s court brief uses the Middleboro School Handbook as evidence to support Anderson’s claim.

“The bus driver has the responsibility to maintain control of behavior on the bus and shall be considered to have the same authority as the teacher in the classroom.”

The case is headed for the U.S. District Court in Boston on Dec. 20.

According to court documents, Anderson alleges that a month after she reported the child’s allegations, the charges of child abuse were turned against her.

She said the victim’s mother complained that Anderson was “engaging in inappropriate behavior” with the victim and other children.